SEAs take on multiple, malleable roles in their work with LEAs, shifting based on identified needs, capacity, and context.¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · qualitative r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2019 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Even where one role dominated an SEA's approach, interviewees in all 10 SEAs described the state's role as malleable to address specific LEA and school needs, with every SEA serving resource and oversight roles. → Dunn 2019

Evidence¶

Dunn 2019¶

Dunn, L., & Ambroso, E. (2019). Balancing act: State and district roles in school improvement under ESSA. San Francisco, CA: WestEd. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED602966

q2 · i? · qualitative · r2

Qualitative interviews in 2018–19 with school improvement leads from 10 SEAs (e.g., Arizona, Alabama, Vermont). Interviewees described "shifting roles based on identified needs, capacity, and context considerations at the LEA and school levels."

"all interviewees described the state's role as largely malleable in order to address specific LEA and school needs. In particular, each SEA described ways they served in the roles of SEA Resource and SEA Oversight."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• An analysis of 23 state ESSA plans identified four main categories of SEA and LEA roles in school improvement: LEA Independence, SEA Oversight, SEA Resource, and SEA–LEA Collaboration. — related
• The SEA-as-resource-provider role was the most commonly emphasized approach, named in 10 of 23 state ESSA plans. — related
• SEA staff describe their role as providing both support and accountability to LEAs, and describe struggling to balance the two. — related
• SEAs differentiate support to districts based on the number of CSI/TSI-identified schools, district capacity, and district willingness to engage. — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• SEAs are leveraging ESSA requirements and increased flexibility to specify SEA and LEA roles and push evidence-based, locally contextualized improvement strategies. — related
• Most state ESSA plans emphasized the district's role in school improvement over the state agency's role, a shift from No Child Left Behind. — related
• Use of data to guide and refine SEA school improvement supports is nascent, with additional work needed to assess whether supports have impact — related
• SEA administrators report shifting from compliance monitoring and grants management toward meaningful support and capacity-building for identified schools — related